


Amusing Isn't What I'd Call It

by artemisismyspitfire



Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Absolute fluff, F/M, Fluff, young justice appreciation month
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-07
Updated: 2015-12-07
Packaged: 2018-05-05 12:19:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5374952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/artemisismyspitfire/pseuds/artemisismyspitfire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Wally somehow talks Artemis into taking Lian to the amusement park. To her dismay, there are no Ferris wheels and only ongoing waves of nausea. Written  for Young Justice Appreciation Month - Day 3: Amusement Park.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Amusing Isn't What I'd Call It

      Artemis was a great aunt, the best in her books, but that did not mean she wanted to spend a day racing about in the blazing hot sun with her boyfriend and niece. “Wally, slow down, we have all day,” the speedster may not have been using his powers, but he was still abnormally fast as he led Lian to and from each ride. Artemis had still refused to get on anything besides a ferris wheel, but when she’d told Wally that he laughed at her… Something about not knowing the difference between fair and amusement park rides.

     “Babe, you don’t get it. This is what an amusement park is like! Let loose, have fun, ride as many coasters as you can until you puke,” he laughed at her, squeezing Lian’s hand and getting in line for the next ride - another one that looked like it went too fast and made Artemis dizzy just _looking_ at it. 

     Rolling her eyes, Artemis stood off by the exit to the ride, digging through the backpack they had brought and chugging her water bottle. She was in the midst of trying to think of a more accurate name for an ‘amusement’ park when her phone buzzed, showing her sister’s ID.

     “So, having a good time yet?” Jade asked before Artemis even had a chance to say hello. Her tone made it very clear that she already knew her younger sister’s answer.

     “Oh, just the best,” Artemis grumbled, eyes jumping towards the ride to make sure Wally and Lian were still occupied. “Gotta love sweating to death in boredom.”

     Jade scoffed, “now you understand why I refused to join or take Lian myself. You should have just let Wally take her. If you’re just sitting around waiting for them, what’s the point of going?”

     “Yeah, but,” Artemis sighed, watching as her boyfriend got off the ride, grinning and helping Lian down. She couldn’t help but smile a little, “I don’t know, he kept saying something about missing another childhood rite of passage and how this was something I just ‘had to experience’ and ‘what better way than to take my favourite niece’.”

     “Well, isn’t that just touching. I’ll make sure to have some wine ready when you come to drop her back off,” Jade paused and made a sound that cued to Artemis that she was already nursing her own glass. “Hopefully this will tire her out. Don’t kill her, try to have some fun, and whatever else I’m supposed to say in this situation. Ciao.”

     Artemis tossed the phone back in her bag just as Lian and Wally got back to her. “Aunt Arty, did you see us?!” The younger girl asked, her black, braided pigtails bouncing as she ran up to her aunt.

     “I did, looked like you were having fun,” She laughed, ruffling her niece’s hair a little. “Where to next, are you hungry yet? We can go get some food?” God knew Artemis could use a break from the scorching sun.   
Lian’s nose scrunched up, “No, we only just got here! I want to go on more rides.”

     Artemis let her eyes wander over to Wally, silently cueing him to step in. He was the reason they were here, he could take her on the rides. He wouldn’t look at her, and after a few seconds she realized what he was doing. Clearing her throat, she turned back to her niece, smiling as best she could, “Why don’t you ask Uncle Wally to take you on another ride and I’ll go find us some lunch?”

    The girl in front of her pursed her lips, her eyes darting over to Wally before landing back on the blonde, “But I want to go on a ride with you. You haven’t been on any of them yet.”

     “How about,” Wally started loudly, choosing now to step in, “Aunt Arty here takes you on a ride, and I will go find us some lunch?”

     “Okay! Please, Aunt Arty? Please, please, please, please? I want you to have fun, too.”

     Artemis huffed loudly, glaring at her boyfriend over Lian’s head before finally saying, “Okay, but only one. Got it?”  How was anyone supposed to deny a begging (adorable) niece?

    “Yes!” The girl yelled, gripping her aunt’s hand and dragging her to the closest roller coaster.

    Turning to look back over her shoulder, Artemis’ eyes met Wally’s. ‘Dead’ she mouthed, watching as he only winked and turned away in search of food.

    As she faced her niece again, Artemis felt her eyes widen. The coaster in front of her was by far the most nauseating one she had seen yet today, and of course it was the one her niece insisted on making her ride. ‘It’ll be fun, Aunt Arty’, she said. ‘You won’t get sick’, she said. ‘Wally said you liked rides’ she said. Of course he did, the bastard.  She was sure she’d like rides about as much as she did getting punched in face. Guess she was about to find out.

     To Lian’s pleasure, the line leading up to the roller coaster was short, something Artemis cursed at under her breath. They stood silently and watched as the ride’s cars moved slowly along the track, leading up to some kind of impending doom. How did anyone have fun practically free-falling from three hundred feet at a hundred miles per hour? Artemis preferred to get her thrills a different way and oh, what she wouldn’t give to have a bad guy to punch in that moment.

     Standing in line felt like it took hours, and Artemis almost wished it was that long. As the ride slowed to a stop, she watched as the next load of people stepped up to their death, leaving her and Lian next in line, and she watched and timed the ride as it took off once more. Two minutes and twenty-eight seconds. That was practically nothing. She could notch arrows and take out fifteen bad guys, at least, in that time. She could ride one, measly roller coaster… right?

     “Aunt Arty,” Lian muttered, pulling her hand, “come on… It’s our turn.”

     Blinking, she nodded, stepping forward and into the small car after her niece. She quickled buckled them in, pulling tight on the straps, wondering just how tight she was supposed to pull them. One of the guys running the ride stepped up to her car, and for a brief second she prayed to whatever god would hear her that he’d ask them to get off the ride.

     “One second here,” He muttered unbuckling the strap at one end and untwisting it so that the fabric laid flat. “There y’are, probably more comfortable that way,” The boy grinned at the two of them, standing back up to pull the safety bar across them. Artemis couldn’t help digging her nails into the cushion of bar sitting across them, saying some choice words under her breath as her only chance of a savior walked away.

     Lian, however, was loving every second and seemed to almost be laughing at her aunt’s reactions. “How fast do you think this one goes?! Wally said he thinks it could be the fastest one here. Isn’t that so cool!?”

     “Just. The. Coolest.” Artemis strained, using every ounce of willpower and restraint she had to not flinch or jump as the ride started, moving their car slowly along the track. Wally had better be getting the best goddamn food he could find, because she was certain this meal would be his last.

     Every millisecond of the two minute and twenty-eight second ride was spent with Artemis’ nails digging further and further into the fabric, her stomach jolting at every sudden movement. Lian was seemingly having the time of her life, if her giggles and screams were anything to go by. Whereas Artemis was static, Lian was dynamic, arms above her head and body moving with the ride. Artemis had never had the urge to strangle her niece before.

      As soon as their car got back to the station and their restraints were removed, Lian jumped out, bouncing in place as she turned to her aunt, “Can we go again? Please, Please?”

      “Absolutely not,” Artemis nearly growled, taking her time to step out of the car. She was having a hard time figuring out exactly where she lost her stomach. Lian looked like she were about to argue, but there must have been something on the blonde’s face that signalled her not to. Artemis wasn’t sure if it were the look of pure hatred for the ride, or if she just looked as green as she felt. Either way, Lian didn’t make a peep as they exited the station and went to search for Wally.

      He wasn’t hard to find. He’d found a picnic table close to the exit and was all grins and happiness when the two girls walked up. “So, how’d it go?!” He asked, his smiling face seeming more punchable to Artemis in that moment than normal. That was something he seemed to catch onto, “Uh, that good, huh?”

      “It was so cool! You _have to_ go on it, Wally! It was probably faster than you even realized. Do you think we can come back next year?” Wally laughed at that, saying something that sounded like an ‘we’ll see’ and a ‘we still have half the day left’. Artemis could feel her stomach flip at the mere thought of having to return. She was happy her niece was having a good time, honestly, but there was no way she was ever going to be coming back here again.

     Lian went on and on about the rides, eating the fries Wally had put in front of her and ignoring almost everything else around her. Wally had stuck a pack of fries in front of Artemis as well, but she couldn’t even look at them in fear of puking. He somehow was completely unaffected by all the roller coasters he put his stomach through, eating his two burgers, two large fries, and a couple apples they’d packed, just to save on food money. She was used to his eating by now, but how he ate like that after riding roller coasters all morning was a further mystery to Artemis.

     After they finished eating, Lian demanded to start hitting the rides again. Wally seemed all for it until a look from his girlfriend signalled that that was a bad idea and that they should ‘probably wait for their food to settle’. Artemis was glad he at least understood that non-verbal cue. So they walked for about an hour, looking at all the different attractions, and picking out what rides they wanted to go on and which ones they’d visit again. Artemis was counting the seconds until it was an acceptable time to ask to leave.

     After a few hours, Lian finally seemed like she was ready to start heading home. Today, ‘ready to start heading home’ looked like falling asleep against Wally’s head while sitting on his shoulders. “Looks like she’s finally tuckered out,” Artemis sighed, looking up at her sleeping niece who’d unknowingly caused her so much trouble today. Who knew the archer would get _that sick_ from one ride.

     Wally smirked a little, his hands holding onto Lian tightly to make sure she didn’t fall, “she had a lot of fun. You know, you’ll probably win Best Aunt Award for all of this. Even if you did almost puke on her.”

     “That was so not my fault and you know it!”

      “How was I supposed to know you’d get sick after one roller coaster?!” Wally laughed, dodging the arm that moved to smack him before shushing her and pointing up, “Don’t wake her, she might try to get you to go on another ride.” Artemis’ arm definitely made contact with his chest that time, all while skillfully managing to avoid waking her niece.

     The drive back was silent and Lian was still fast asleep by the time they got her home. “Well, I expected her to be tired out, not sound asleep,” Jade smirked, watching as Wally carried her daughter in from the car and put her in her bed. “She’d better not wake up and be up all night now, though. I assume you had an okay time?”

     “Well, your daughter coerced me to go on a roller coaster and I was ridiculously sick after one ride and was only able to keep my dinner done twenty minutes ago in the car. If that qualifies as an okay time than I guess so,” Artemis scoffed, eyes scanning the room for the wine her sister had promised her.  

      Wally rolled his eyes, “C’m’on, babe, it wasn’t that bad. Lian had a lot of fun. Thanks for letting us take her.”

      “Oh, my pleasure,” Jade said easily, waving her arm to direct Artemis to the glass sitting patiently on the counter. “Gave Roy and I a day together where we didn’t have to worry about finding a sitter since you both seem _so_ busy all the time now.”

      Normally Artemis would have some snippy comment about babysitting and how ‘she has a life too’, but she was too preoccupied with sipping (ie. chugging) her wine.

      “Easy there, hotshot,” Wally zoomed in, snagging the glass from her and placing it firmly back on the counter. “There’ll be plenty of time to drink your sorrows away later. As for now… We should get going.”

     “Uh, excuse m-”

     “He’s right, you probably should,” Her sister cut in. “I don’t need you two having a couple’s spat in my apartment. Thanks for taking Lian today, I owe you a bottle of wine, etcetera, etcetera,” She continued, using her arms to gently guide them towards the door. “I’ll message you soon about babysitting next. Ciao!” She yelled, practically pushing them out and closing the door behind them.  

     Before Artemis was able to turn to and ask her boyfriend exactly what happened there, Wally took her hand, “Come on. I want to show you something.” That shut the archer up real quick.

     He led her out of the apartment and back to their car before she finally said anything, “Where are we going, babe? I kind of just want to go home.”

     “Don’t worry, you’ll like this,” He grinned, squeezing her hand tightly before scooping her up. “Hold tight,” he muttered before he started to run. Artemis swore under her breath, afraid for a split-second that the sudden movement may make her sick again. How she could handle being jostled about by Wally’s running and not a roller coaster was something she’d probably never understand.

     “Seriously, Wally,” she started, eyes twisted shut and face pressed up against him to try and protect herself from the wind, “Where are we going?”

     “It’s a surprise,” he said, halting to a stop seconds later. “Tada,” he whispered, carefully letting her down and turning her. In front of them was an old style, lit up ferris wheel, gently spinning in the dark.

     Artemis shook her head, turning to look over him, “You’ve got to be kidding me. This is your surprise?”

     “Well, not all of it,” He admitted, leading her over to the bottom where an older gentleman was manning the ride. “Table for two please,” Wally announced, grinning at Artemis.

      To her surprise, the older gentleman acted like this was completely normal, stepping up to the now stopped ride and opening the car for them. “After you,” The speedster offered, gesturing for her to go ahead of him. Artemis shook her head as she stepped onto the ride. In front of her was a small table built around the middle of the car, filled with some of their favourite foods and a bottle of wine that had a note attached. _You owe me, West. - J._

     Picking up the note, Artemis turned to Wally with raised eyebrows, “So what exactly is this all about?”

     He started to look sheepish then, rubbing the back of his neck as he took the note from her and sat down as the ferris wheel began to move again. “Well, I could tell from most of the morning that the amusement park wasn’t exactly the best idea,” he started, smiling at her apologetically, “That maybe, just maybe, that was one childhood tradition that you could have skipped. So, while you and Lian were on the roller coaster of doom, as I believe you called it, I phoned Jade. Told her how I felt horrible that I made you come, and what you said about ferris wheels, and she told me she’d help me make it up to you. Figured it was out of the goodness of her heart, or she’d count babysitting Lian for the day payment. Didn’t think I’d still owe her,” he laughed, tossing the note on the table in front of him. “I really did think you’d have fun today though. If I knew you’d get so nauseous from the rides I would’ve just gotten Roy to come with Lian and I. Let you and Jade have a girls day, or something.”

     Artemis just laughed, shaking her head again at the grand gesture and all the food around her. Leaning over, she planted a light kiss to his cheek, “Thank you, Wally. Just… promise me something.”

     “What’s that, beautiful?”

     “Do not ever take me to an amusement park again.”

     A grin broke across his face before he kissed her quickly, “Deal… at least until we have kids of our own who’re old enough to go.”

     Even Wally had to admit he deserved to be smacked that time.

  
  
  



End file.
